In 1993, Mortal Kombat II introduced the supreme ruler of Outworld; the emperor Shao Kahn. Since then, he has remained one of the Mortal Kombat series’ primary antagonists, often serving as the final boss. Shao Kahn is a ruthless conqueror who sets his sites on Earthrealm, hoping to rule it alongside Outworld. Prevented from taking the realm by force, Shao Kahn is required to earn 10 consecutive victories in the Mortal Kombat tournament by the Elder Gods. Only then will Earthrealm be his for the taking. After 9 consecutive victories, his champions are ultimately defeated by Liu Kang and the Earthrealm warriors. After the crushing defeat, he lures their champions to Outworld, laying the seeds to invade Earth regardless of the outcome.

Shao Kahn is a massive warrior, sporting a warlord style outfit. He rarely removes his Warlord Helmet, and features spiked shoulder pads, all while wielding his oversized Wrath Hammer. His appearance is captured perfectly in a new 1/12 scale action figure by Storm Collectibles. Our friends at Bluefin have sent along the figure for us to check out. Read on for my thoughts and a full gallery of the figure.

Mortal Kombat – Shao Kahn 1/12 Scale Figure by Storm Collectibles

Pros

Excellent sculpt

Great paint work

Nice articulation and range of motion

Portraits and hands swap out easily

Lots of interchangeable hands

Helmet is removable

Includes a throne

Towers over existing Storm MK Figures

Cons

Not a fan of how the soft vinyl was used

Shoulder pads tend to pop off while posing

Some peeling on the skin

Overall
The Shao Kahn figure comes packaged in a large collector friendly window box. The packaging features character art the covers one corner of the box, while the back showcases the figure and his features. The figure and accessories are placed in a multi-tiered tray, perfect for keeping all the parts organized and for packing him back up if needed. The overall packaging fits in perfectly with the previously released MK figures.

Storm did an excellent job of bringing Shao Kahn to life here. The figure is large, towering over their Ninja figures. Sculpt work is excellent, with great attention to detail on the head sculpts, armor, and overall physique. There’s great texture work on the metallic parts of the armor, and noticeable pores on the skin. They’ve even sculpted in some veins, adding to his body-builder look. Not surprisingly, Storm has packed this figure with about 30 points of articulation. As has become common with their figures, careful thought went into the design of the joints, and how articulation plays into the sculpt. The range of motion is excellent, allowing for Shao Kahn to pull off any number of iconic and dynamic poses. Joints are very solid here, with the shoulders being just a tad too tight out of the box. After a few hours of adjusting posing, adjusting those joints felt much better. The figure has multiple swap out hands and a second portrait, all of which swap out easily and snap onto the pegs tightly. The two portraits feature distinct expressions, with the angry face being my personal choice for the display. The variety of hands included is impressive.

The main body is cast in a standard plastic, with soft vinyl used on areas such as the helmet, chest, shoulder pads, wrist gauntlets and other attire. The use on the chest and shoulders is great, as it hides the underlying structure, while keeping the figure looking more natural. But, there seems to be some peeling noticable on those skin areas. I wasn’t a fan of how much the soft vinyl came into play here, though. The shoulder pads and helmet provided the most frustration for me. The shoulder pads are held in place by a small, single peg that plugs into a soft vinyl chest strap. Moving them too much would tend to cause them to pop off. With the Warlord Helmet being vinyl as well, this would cause it to sit oddly whenever the edges would come in contact with the spikes on the shoulder. It causes only a minor bit of frustration, but is worth noting.

Included with the figure are numerous accessories. Shao Kahn has 8 interchangeable hands, swap out angry and serious head sculpts, and his Wrath Hammer. The articulation allows for the Hammer to be held with both hands for swinging poses, but the joints are sturdy enough to allow him to wield it with just one hand if desired. The largest inclusion, though, is his throne. The large throne features some nice sculpt work, with solid detailing throughout. Shao Kahn sits perfectly on the throne, and the included open palmed hands work great when he’s seated. I was a bit surprised to see that it was cast in vinyl as opposed to a hollow plastic, but it works for what is intended here.

Shao Kahn wound up being a really good figure. While I didn’t enjoy some of the vinyl parts, the overall look is spot on. With a great sculpt, strong paint application and a nice variety of display options, this is a hard figure to pass up. Check out some select photos below, and see the full gallery after that.